The 20th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards were held Monday night and Debra Granik’s Winter’s Bone is opening some eyes as it took home Best Feature and Best Ensemble Performance, two of the three categories the night’s leading nominee was featured in.
The one category Winter’s Bone didn’t hear its name called was Breakthrough Actor as sure-to-be-nominated-for-an-Oscar Jennifer Lawrence looked on as Ronald Bronstein took home the award for his role in Daddy Longlegs.
Breakthrough Actor award or not, Lawrence will still get a Best Actres Oscar nomination and Winter’s Bone is now looking like a much stronger contender for a Best Picture nomination. Granik’s Ozark woods feature beat out Black Swan, Blue Valentine, The Kids are All Right and Let Me In to take home Best Feature, an award last year’s Oscar Best Picture winner, The Hurt Locker, won only a year ago.
I currently list Winter’s Bone at #11 on my Best Picture predictions, but I can tell you right now those predictions will be updated soon and it will definitely be moving into the list of ten.
While Winter’s Bone may be smiling, what does this mean for Black Swan and The Kids are All Right? Black Swan also lost the top prize at the Venice Film Festival to Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere and it’s starting to sound like Natalie Portman’s performance may be getting more of the focus than the film itself. Is there a chance Darren Aronofsky’s film misses a Best Picture nom as a result?
There are certain a few new items to consider after last night’s results, but for now the complete list of winners from the Gotham Independent Film Awards can be found directly below.
Best Feature
Best Documentary
- 12th & Delaware
- Inside Job
- The Oath *WINNER!*
- Public Speaking
- Sweetgrass
Best Ensemble Performance
- The Kids Are All Right
- Life During Wartime
- Please Give
- Tiny Furniture
- Winter’s Bone *WINNER!*
Breakthrough Director
- John Wells for The Company Men
- Kevin Asch for Holy Rollers *WINNER!*
- Glenn Ficarra and John Requa for I Love You Phillip Morris
- Tanya Hamilton for Night Catches Us
- Lena Dunham for Tiny Furniture
Breakthrough Actor
- Prince Adu in Prince of Broadway
- Ronald Bronstein in Daddy Longlegs *WINNER!*
- Greta Gerwig in Greenberg
- Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone
- John Ortiz in Jack Goes Boating
Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You
- Kati with an i
- Littlerock *WINNER!*
- On Coal River
- Summer Pasture
- The Wolf Knife
Festival Genius Audience Award
- Waiting For ‘Superman’ (dir. Davis Guggenheim)
You can stay up-to-date with everything awards related throughout the year in my “The Contenders” section.
